Staff Editor

(Barbados Nation) As policyholders of CLICO International Life (CIL) anxiously await word on their fate, regional officials have warned there are “no easy” solutions to the now three-year-old debacle.

(Trinidad Express) A TT$1 million prize for the best basketball team and towering former NBA player Dr Shaquille O’Neal were presented by Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar yesterday as she unveiled a plan to tackle crime with sport among the nation’s young people.

WASHINGTON,  (Reuters) – Nearly 4 million homes and businesses were without power today amid a record heat wave in the eastern United States after deadly thunderstorms downed power lines from Indiana to New Jersey.

(Reuters) – Chris Gayle treated the locals to a thrilling show of hitting as the West Indies defeated an injury-hit New Zealand by 56 runs in the first of two Twenty20 Internationals in Lauderhill, Florida on today.

(Jamaica Gleaner) The Transnational Crime and Narcotics Division(TCND)says ganja weighing 712lb was seized at Kingston Wharves yesterday.

Longstanding PPP executive Ralph Ramkarran today resigned from the ruling party in a move that will likely shake Freedom House to its foundations.

(Jamaica Gleaner) The United States (US) Coast Guard says it has seized more than 3,800lb of cocaine, worth an estimated US$48 million, during a number of sting operations in the Caribbean Sea.

GENEVA, (Reuters) – International powers agreed today that a transitional government should be set up in Syria to end the bloodshed there but left open the question of what part President Bashar al-Assad might play in the process.

(Jamaica Gleaner) Last Saturday, Bryan Morris and his wife Loraine celebrated their eighth wedding anniversary.

(Jamaica Gleaner) The track and field world was treated to a feast of fine sprinting as World champion Yohan Blake continued to rubber-stamp his threat to 100m dominance while Olympic champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce showed her class to take the women’s equivalent at the JAAA/Supreme Ventures Limited National Senior Championships.

(Barbados Nation) There has been a major shake-up within the ANSA McAL group in Barbados, with reports yesterday that at least four senior executives in the conglomerate were to be relieved of their duties.

(Trinidad Express) A 69-year-old Gasparillo man choked on his boxer shorts which were stuffed in his mouth by robbers during a home invasion early Friday morning.

MUMBAI, (Reuters) – The Indian cricket board (BCCI) banned one uncapped cricketer for life on Saturday and handed out lesser punishments to four others for involvement in corruption in domestic cricket.

BAMAKO, (Reuters) – Al Qaeda-linked Mali Islamists armed with Kalashnikovs and pick-axes began destroying prized mausoleums of saints in the UNESCO-listed northern city of Timbuktu today in front of shocked locals, witnesses said.

(Trinidad Express) A family south of Ottawa was scheduled to fly back to Trinidad and Tobago yesterday, CBC News reported, as they were deported after their refugee claims were denied.

(Trinidad Express) National Security Minister Jack Warner yesterday sent a warning to both critics and criminals that they “haven’t seen anything yet”, in the face of public outrage over his role during the demolition of a protest camp set up by the Highway Re-Route Movement in Debe on Wednesday.

(Jamaica Gleaner) Jamaican sprint superstar Yohan Blake produced a thrilling run to win the men’s 100m final at the JAAA/SVL Jamaica Senior National Championships tonight.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Actress Katie Holmes has filed for divorce from her superstar husband Tom Cruise, ending a six-year marriage that produced one daughter and captivated celebrity watchers worldwide.

(Reuters) – The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency has unanimously recommended filing formal doping charges against U.S.

ST GEORGE’S, Grenada,  CMC – A shocking batting collapse sent West Indies A tumbling to a disappointing 108-run defeat in the second one-dayer here today, allowing India A to level the three-match series at 1-1.